The San Diego Padres continue their weekend set in Kansas City on Saturday night against the Royals. The Padres are clinging to the 3rd and final wildcard spot in the National League and that appears to be their only avenue to the playoffs with the Dodgers nearly insurmountable lead in the NL West Division. The Royals are well out of the playoff picture in the American League but are using this time to feature the team's young talent like Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez. On the mound on Saturday night will be veteran righty Yu Darvish (10-7, 3.39) of the Padres while the Royals have yet to name a starter. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm EST.
The San Diego Padres went into this season's trade deadline with a 'win at all costs' attitude. Unfortunately, after reformatting the team's lineup and bullpen, the Padres have struggled to actually win. Since the August 3rd trade deadline, the Padres are just 8-12 heading into Friday night's opener in Kansas City. The team was swept in a brief two-game series by the Guardians in San Diego before heading to the midwest. In the opener on Friday night, the Padres quiet offense finally came alive as they pounded out 19 hits and 13 runs in a big win to open the series. Ha-Seong Kim went 3-for-6 with a career-high six RBI in the win.
On the road behind Java Joe. pic.twitter.com/X1sThKGzwJ
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 26, 2022
The Padres revamped lineup has had difficulty since acquiring Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Brandon Drury to improve the team's offensive output. The team has hit just .229 since August 3rd and is averaging 3.9 runs per game. The Padres have one of the deepest and most talented starting staffs in baseball but the lineup must produce for the Padres to get on a roll. On the mound on Saturday night in KC will be Yu Darvish. The veteran has an impressive 18 QS in his 23 turns this season. In his last five games, Darvish is 1-3 with a 3.78 ERA. He has allowed 31 hits in 33 innings pitched while striking out 10.3 per nine innings.